<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>feels like coming home by TripsH</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25416127">feels like coming home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TripsH/pseuds/TripsH'>TripsH</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Post-Timeskip Iwaoi [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Slight Manga Spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:34:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25416127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TripsH/pseuds/TripsH</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Five moments in Oikawa and Iwaizumi's lives after high school.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Post-Timeskip Iwaoi [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862326</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>359</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>feels like coming home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy birthday to my best boy Oikawa who has always had a special place in my heart and means so, so much to me. I love him dearly, and he's one of my most favorite characters across any piece of media ever who I've always found to be both so relatable and inspirational &lt;3</p><p>On a slightly related and very sappy note, since haikyuu ended yesterday (and I'm still screaming about it!), I really need to say thank you to furudate for creating these characters who I connect with so much and for creating just an all around enjoyable and meaningful story. Haikyuu got me through so much in 2014 and 2015, and once again did the same this year. I feel like things have really come full circle for me because the series/characters that inspired me to write fanfic after years of not doing that and gain the confidence to post it in the first place are the same that pulled me out of the longest writing slump I’d ever been in. I’m always going to be grateful for haikyuu really igniting this passion for writing in me and for once again bringing it back when I thought I might never feel that again... </p><p>Anyway! There are time skip spoilers here because time skip iwaoi makes me Weak. Unsurprisingly, it totally got away from me and became over 7k! I can't control myself ever, I guess, but I hope you enjoy this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <em>i.</em>
</p><p>It’s well past midnight now. Not that time really makes sense anymore when you’ve spent a huge chunk of the day traveling, though.  </p><p>“You don’t have to stick around and wait for my flight, y’know.” Oikawa turns his head away from the comfort of resting it against Iwaizumi’s shoulder in favor of looking up at him, willing himself not to fall asleep, no matter how much he wants to. He still has a long flight once his layover ends. He can sleep then, but between the long flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, the layover he has to wait through, and the sudden change in time zones, it’s difficult to keep his eyes from fluttering shut.</p><p>So he speaks more so to fill the quiet, to keep himself awake and his mind away from the clock counting down to when he and Iwaizumi will officially have to separate. “I’m sure there are things you need to do, and it’s so late…”</p><p>“Are you trying to get rid of me sooner than you have to?” Iwaizumi pinches Oikawa’s side, gentle, so casual—like hanging out in an airport with your best friend hours longer than you have to is no big deal at all. Just something so easy, so simple that it’s not even a question that he’ll do it. “That stuff can wait. I wanna stay with you. This is the last time we’ll be together for a while.”</p><p>Yeah. Yeah, there’s <em>that</em> glaring reality too. The fact that they’ve both chosen paths that will create a long stretch of distance between them. This will be the first time in their entire lives they won’t live, won’t exist, in such close proximity. After years of knowing each other, of living across the street from each other, of experiencing every major milestone together, they’ll suddenly spend an unknown amount of time apart. Away from the homes they grew up in, that they built their lifelong friendship in. Alone in unfamiliar, foreign places to pursue their dreams.</p><p>“Thanks, Iwa-chan.”</p><p>“Yeah. You can go to sleep if you want. I’ll wake you up if you…”</p><p>Oikawa shakes his head. “No way. I’m not gonna spend our last couple of hours together sleeping.”</p><p>“Yeah…” Out of the corner of his eye, Oikawa catches a glimpse of Iwaizumi’s smile. “Yeah, okay.”  </p><p>For a moment, his hand settles in Oikawa’s hair, brushes against the back of his head. But the touch is gone as quick as it was initiated. No matter how much they both might want it. No matter how long they’ve danced around something that’s always existed between them, waiting for them to grab it and hold onto it. A possibility that’s just waiting on one of them to take a damn chance.</p><p>Sometimes, Oikawa thinks it’s funny that he’s been brave enough to upend all the familiarity of home in Japan in favor of moving across the world to Argentina to pursue volleyball further, but he’s never been brave enough to tell Iwaizumi how he feels, to say how much he loves him and how much he’s <em>always </em>loved him.  </p><p>They stay just like this, what they’re used to except a little different this time around. Sitting in the airport in Los Angeles in the quiet of the night, Oikawa’s head pressed against Iwaizumi’s shoulder, trying not to fall asleep and waste the last bit of time they have together before they won’t know when it’ll be that they see each other next.</p><p>“We’re really quite the pair, aren’t we?” He laughs a little, shifting against Iwaizumi’s side. “Shipping ourselves off to the other side of the world after high school.”</p><p>Iwaizumi laughs too. “Can’t do anything halfway, can we?”</p><p>“Never.”</p><p>A couple of people who don’t know enough about them or their friendship have subtly (or not so subtly) expressed their doubts that it can last when they’re going in such different directions—Argentina and California, different countries, different time zones, different plans. They say it’s easy to <em>say</em> you’ll keep in touch, keep your friendship just as strong even with miles and miles stretched between them, but to actually do it is a different story.</p><p>But those people don’t know them at all. To think they need physical presence to remain close as they are. A lifetime of friendship doesn’t end because of distance. Not a chance.</p><p>A while later, when Oikawa has to get ready to board his flight, Iwaizumi takes his hands, helps to his feet. They don’t let go, even if they might have normally. Right now is different.</p><p>“You’re gonna do great, y’know.” Iwaizumi finally breaks the silence between them. “I know you are.”</p><p>Oikawa smiles, despite the burning sensation of tears behind his eyes, the ache in his chest. “You are too.”</p><p>Maybe one day, once they’ve both carved their own paths, they’ll stand on top of the world together. Side by side when they’ve achieved all their dreams.</p><p>“Call me,” Oikawa finally says. “And text me. And don’t forget about me when you make new friends and are distracted with all the cool things here in California.”</p><p>
  <em>And…</em>
</p><p>“Don’t replace me,” he adds quietly, squeezing Iwaizumi’s hands tightly.  </p><p>“I haven’t replaced you yet, have I?” Iwaizumi jokes, but he pulls Oikawa into a hug, adds a quiet, “Like I ever could.”</p><p>Something about it—the softness of his voice, even though they don’t have to be quiet because the airport is pretty empty, the way he whispers the words against Oikawa’s shoulder as they stand here in an embrace—gets his heart going, racing like it does right before a big match.</p><p>“Good.” Oikawa squeezes his eyes shut tight, like maybe if he closes his eyes he won’t cry. He doesn’t want to cry. “You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”</p><p>“Is that a threat or a promise?” Iwaizumi laughs a little when he pulls back from the hug. His fingers curl tightly in Oikawa’s shirt, awaiting an answer.</p><p>“Promise.”</p><p>“Promise,” Iwaizumi repeats. “Me too.”</p><p>For a moment, when they’re standing this close together, arms still wrapped around each other, it seems like they might finally kiss. Like they could close that tiny bit of distance between them after so long spent pushing the desire to do that aside.</p><p>But love confessions don’t seem the most opportune when they’d be closing a small distance between them with a kiss only to initiate a much larger stretch of it the moment they let go of each other and Oikawa steps on that plane.</p><p>He sways a little, rocks back on his heels, and Iwaizumi averts his gaze after a breath too long. He hugs Oikawa again instead. “I’m gonna miss you.”</p><p>“I’m gonna miss you too.” They’re words he doesn’t have to think about. That’s how true they are.</p><p>He has to go. He really has to go, so he pulls away first, grins at Iwaizumi before rubbing his forearm over his eye to wipe away any tears. “See you later, Hajime.”</p><p>“Yeah. See you later, Tooru.” Iwaizumi squeezes his shoulder one last time before the last thread of lingering contact between them is broken.</p><p>This isn’t goodbye. It’s not. This isn’t permanent. And no matter what comes next, it doesn’t change how important they are to each other. Not at all.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>ii. </em>
</p><p>“Well, if it isn’t our resident volleyball freak!” Hanamaki’s jab settles between the four of them when Oikawa joins the video call between himself, Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki. “About time we saw you again.”</p><p>“You say that as if you didn’t play volleyball too, Makki!”</p><p>“Oh yeah, that’s true. But no one is as big of a volleyball freak as you, Oikawa.”</p><p>“Hard agree.” Matsukawa joins in with Hanamaki’s teasing now. “None of us moved across the world to play, so you definitely win this contest.” </p><p>“You wanna force a tie, Iwaizumi, or join the majority?”</p><p>“No comment.” Iwaizumi hides his laughter behind his knuckles, elbow resting on his desk. He looks good, even through the grainy computer image and dim lighting of his room. It’s distracting to the point that Oikawa almost forgets to play back into the banter. Almost. Hanamaki and Matsukawa will never let him hear the end of it if they realize he’s distracted watching the tiny video of Iwaizumi on his screen.</p><p>“Iwa-chan—!”</p><p>“That means he wants to join the majority, obviously. Especially when the majority is this good looking and—”</p><p>“How did this become about that?”</p><p>“I’m manifesting you back into our lives by imitating you.” Hanamaki shrugs, but grins, teasing.</p><p>“Why are you talking about me like I’m dead?”</p><p>“He was so young.” Matsukawa makes a show of wiping away fake tears.</p><p>“Sometimes, I can still hear his voice…”</p><p>Oikawa groans. “Oh damn, I think my connection is bad. I’m gonna lose you!”</p><p>“Oh no, no, no. You don’t get to bow out just like that because we tease you.”</p><p>“Don’t break our hearts, Oikawa.”</p><p>“At least until you tell us when you’re inviting us to come visit.”</p><p>“Never!” He laughs. “You’re never allowed to come and visit.”</p><p>Hanamaki shrugs. “Probably doesn’t want us there because he’ll owe us each a drink for every time he flubs a serve.”</p><p>Oikawa bristles. “That doesn’t happen that often!”</p><p>“Yeah, you’re right, but don’t think we haven’t been keeping track of your games over there. We’re keeping count, and you’ll hear all about it when we visit.”</p><p>“That’s right,” Matsukawa adds. “You’ve gotta set a good example for the kids. Kindaichi’s captain now. Kunimi’s vice-cap.”</p><p>“They’re not really kids anymore,” Iwaizumi reminds them. “They’re third years now.”</p><p>“That’s like kids to us now that we’ve either already broken into our twenties or are almost there.”</p><p>“I don’t know why you’re making us sound like we’re senior citizens just because we’re twenty.” Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.</p><p>“Well, technically, you’re the most senior citizen out of all of us, Iwaizumi. Since you’re the oldest and all.”</p><p>“Haha, so funny. That’s a joke I’d expect from a thirteen year old.” Iwaizumi’s eyes drift from where he’d been bickering with Matsukawa. He frowns. “Hey, you okay?”</p><p>Oikawa knows it’s directed at him, knows that Iwaizumi’s furrowed brow and look of concern is in response to something he’s seen on Oikawa’s face—probably a reaction he didn’t even mean to show—but Iwaizumi notices all kinds of stuff like that. Even when they’re looking at each other over a computer screen.</p><p>“Yeah, now that you mention it, you’ve been kind of quiet, Oikawa.”</p><p>“Quiet for <em>you</em> anyway…”</p><p>“I’m fine,” he insists. He is. Really, he is. It’s just… “You guys watch my games that much?”</p><p>“Is that even a question?” Matsukawa sounds offended that it is. “Of course we do.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Hanamaki echoes. “Not just us. The whole team.”</p><p>“We’re all proud of you, dummy,” Iwaizumi adds in.</p><p>“Yeah, so you keep doing your thing over there. We’re always gonna be cheering for you.”</p><p>And Oikawa knows that. Deep down, he always has. He’s known for ages that they all care about how he’s doing. Even if it’s in the form of Hanamaki and Matsukawa teasing him about flubbing serves like they might have in high school, joking that they’re keeping track while they watch streams of his games. Even if it’s something as simple as Iwaizumi texting Oikawa shortly before a game where he wishes him luck. Tells him <em>good luck </em>or <em>you’ve got this. </em>Some type of encouraging message that doesn’t make him feel so far away.</p><p>“You <em>guys</em>…” This time, he thinks his voice does hitch with emotion. Enough of a shift that it’s got Hanamaki shouting, “Hey, no tears! We only do this once a month and I don’t want to see you get all choked up!”</p><p>“I’m fine!” Oikawa insists again.</p><p>They move on from that topic, but all stay on the call for a while. It’s a monthly thing, but it never gets boring. And it’s nice to talk again, the four of them together.</p><p>After a while, though, Matsukawa finally says, “We’re gonna go, but you two will probably still stay on and talk without us like you always do.”</p><p>“What? How do you know we do that?”</p><p>“If you were trying to keep it secret, you just gave it away, dumbass.” Iwaizumi deadpans, smirk on his lips.</p><p>“There’s nothing to hide. I don’t care what these two think!”</p><p>Matsukawa laughs. “To answer your question, we know because we made an educated guess.”</p><p>“An educated guess informed by the way you two are constantly making goo goo eyes at each other. Get a virtual room!” Hanamaki pauses for a beat, then says, “Oh, wait, you already do that.”</p><p>“Makki!” Warmth rises to Oikawa’s cheeks, embarrassment.</p><p>“Okay, bye guys. See you next time.” If it’s any consolation, Iwaizumi’s face is red too before he kicks Hanamaki and Matsukawa out of the call, the two of them expecting it already so their laughter and loud goodbyes fill the space until they’ve suddenly been cut off abruptly.</p><p>“How do they always have so much energy?”</p><p>Iwaizumi shrugs. “It’s still early over there, and it’s late at night for you, so you’ve already had a full day. Besides, remember how they’d be at morning practices?”</p><p>Oikawa laughs. It’s not even one memory in particular that makes him laugh because there are so many from three years of playing on the same team. Morning practices were always interesting with the group of them.</p><p>There’s another thought on his mind, though, something that he’s wanted to say and can now that they’re alone.</p><p>“You need to visit me soon, Iwa-chan! And come to one of my games. My teammates don’t think you’re real any time I talk about you.”</p><p>“Something about that doesn’t surprise me.” Iwaizumi laughs. “But yeah, I’d love to. I don’t want to be your elusive best friend forever. I’ve got a break from school soon, so maybe…”</p><p>They talk for a few minutes about arranging it, some time to spend together after so many months apart.</p><p>“So, I don’t get the same treatment as Hanamaki and Matsukawa? How come I get to come and visit?” Iwaizumi finally teases, grinning at him. They’re going to end the call soon, since it’s late at night for Oikawa, but apparently, he can’t let that slide.</p><p>Oikawa cringes. “Look, Makki and Matsun are my friends, and I’m only messing with them when I say they can’t visit. But you know as well as I do that they are not beyond trashing my apartment… or causing some other type of chaos.”  </p><p>“Oh yeah, you’re not wrong at all. I’d pay money to see it too.”</p><p>“Wow, thanks for the support, Iwa-chan. You’re the best.”</p><p>“Obviously, or you wouldn’t be insisting I come visit you.”</p><p>“Maybe that was just a moment of weakness and I take it back now,” Oikawa teases right back, hiding his smile behind his hand.</p><p>“Yeah, right.” Iwaizumi smiles back at him. “Well, I gotta study for a test before I go to bed. And you should be asleep already.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m going to sleep once we end the call. Good luck studying, and you don’t stay up too late either!”</p><p>“Sure. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Sleep well.”</p><p>“You too.” They end the call, and Oikawa gets up, goes to flop down in his bed instead. It’s silent again, suddenly too quiet after a while with his friends’ voices filling his apartment. Maybe he should let Hanamaki and Matsukawa visit and stop joking with them about it. It’d probably <em>never</em> be quiet if he did that… for a few days at least.</p><p>The idea of Iwaizumi visiting him gets his heart racing, though. It’s been a while since they last saw each other in person. Months ago now, Oikawa had visited him in California. But something about Iwaizumi visiting him here in Argentina, stepping into the life Oikawa’s made for himself here has him buzzing with excitement, anticipation.</p><p>Whenever that day comes, he can’t wait.</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>iii.</em>
</p><p>“My face is up here, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa points a finger to his face, grinning at Iwaizumi. Although, based on the look on Iwaizumi’s face it doesn’t come off as a grin at all. Probably more like a pained grimace as he’s pulling his knee brace off with his free hand. It’s fine, mostly, just acts up sometimes, a feeling he’s used to. “Are you that shocked to see me play in person again that you’re speechless?”</p><p>Iwaizumi had made good on his promise to come and visit Oikawa, especially so he could see one of his games in person instead of just over a stream online.</p><p>“No. Gotta say you’re still amazing, though. Even better than before.” Oikawa’s comment, the momentary distraction from his knee keeps Iwaizumi’s attention for like… a measly five seconds. He’s probably pushed away any concern only to praise Oikawa before letting his initial thoughts take over again. “Are you alright?”</p><p>The look on Oikawa’s face and the swell of his knee must be concerning because Iwaizumi kneels down next to where Oikawa’s seated on the gym floor, leg outstretched before him. His fingers brush over Oikawa’s knee, gentle.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m good. No big deal.” This time, Oikawa really does smile because Iwaizumi’s free hand brushes through his hair, pushes some of it out of the way, behind Oikawa’s ear.</p><p>Somehow, they’ve grown even more touchy than they were when they were constantly in the same space. Like they’re making up for a lack of time, taking what they can while they’ve got it. A sentiment proven by the shift from where they’d started the first two nights of Iwaizumi’s visit spent sleeping apart to now sharing Oikawa’s bed. Sometimes, their hands brush or they press too close together or sometimes it really <em>does</em> seem like they might kiss after a million years of avoiding that possibility.</p><p>“You should ice it,” Iwaizumi finally says, and he pulls his hand from where it’d been resting on Oikawa’s knee. “Stretch it out and maybe get it taped up.”</p><p>He can’t help but laugh imagining Iwaizumi enforcing the same thing the trainers here do sometimes—giving him ice and taping up his knee, making him promise to ice it again at home later. It’s not much different than things Iwaizumi would say and do in high school, except now the team’s changed and they live in different countries and this is the future career Iwaizumi wants.</p><p>“Yep, I’ll get it handled.” Iwaizumi’s hand still hasn’t left where it’s lingering in Oikawa’s hair, near his cheek. “You don’t mind waiting around for me?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m gonna take off without you and explore town on my own, and maybe I’ll never come back.” He rolls his eyes as he says the sarcastic comment, but leans over to help Oikawa to his feet. “I’m fine waiting. Just get yourself taken care of.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah.” It doesn’t hurt to walk. He’s just a little stiff and sore like he gets after tough games sometimes.</p><p>One of his teammates catches up to him on the way back to the locker room. “He your boyfriend?” he asks, all casual, jerking a thumb behind them in Iwaizumi’s direction.</p><p>Oikawa nearly trips over his own feet at the sudden question. People have thought that before. Hell, people have asked about it before if they’re really curious. But sometimes his heart will race at the fact that they’re so obvious to everyone else, but still haven’t taken that step with each other.</p><p>“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” He shrugs, still so casual in response to Oikawa’s near-death experience of almost tripping on the way to the locker room. “You just seem closer than friends do. That’s all.”</p><p>Oikawa shakes his head. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were it, though? If they <em>could</em> be that. But is it really fair to start a relationship when the two of them live in different countries, when they only see each other once every few months if they’re lucky? The thought is nice, but taking a leap like that seems so terrifying, no matter how obvious the pining and longing have been for so long now. “We’re not… we’ve just been best friends our whole lives.”</p><p>“You don’t sound too happy about it.”</p><p>He shrugs. “I take what I can get, I guess.”</p><p>“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you, though.” Oikawa nearly lurches forward when his teammate slaps him on the shoulder in what he <em>thinks </em>is meant to be comforting. “Go take care of your knee like your friend said. He knows what he’s talking about.”</p><p>Oikawa nods, laughs quietly, but he can’t help but notice the punch of pride in his chest, his heart. Iwaizumi knows what he’s talking about. Of course he does. Iwaizumi’s his best friend. God, Oikawa’s been so hopelessly in love with him for so many years at this point. And ultimately, he’s just as proud of Iwaizumi as Iwaizumi is of him.</p><p>So it doesn’t matter what capacity they’re in each other’s lives, so long as they are. Maybe one day when they’re ready it’ll shift to more than just friendship, but right now? Whatever it is, whatever they are it’s fine. He’s happy.</p><p>He turns, eyes falling on Iwaizumi, who’s laughing at something one of Oikawa’s teammates speaking with him says. Like he senses Oikawa’s gaze on him, he turns his head. Their eyes meet across the room. For a second, it looks like Iwaizumi’s concerned, like he wants to mouth <em>you okay? </em>at Oikawa.</p><p>But Oikawa smiles at him, unable to contain the happiness at having Iwaizumi here with him after so long. At all of this fitting so well together, like puzzle pieces meant to go together. It’s not stilted or awkward or strange to be together again after months apart. Really, it’s like they’ve never left each other’s sides in the first place with how seamlessly they still fit into each other’s lives, despite the fact that things are more different now than they’d ever been before.  </p><p>Iwaizumi smiles back at him, gives him a small wave, which Oikawa returns before turning back to head to the locker room. If he doesn’t take too long, there’s still plenty of time for the two of them to grab dinner.</p><p>They’ve still got a few days left together, and he doesn’t want to waste a moment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>iv.</em>
</p><p>“If you’re tired, you don’t have to stay on with me.” Oikawa sits down on his apartment’s balcony, knees drawn to his chest and phone in his hand as he and Iwaizumi FaceTime. The breeze is warm, last lingering bits of the sunset illuminating the city below.</p><p>“No way,” Iwaizumi says through a yawn, shaking his head. “We’re both free tonight, so I’m staying on. It’s only 3:00 here, anyway. Too early to sleep.”</p><p>“What am I supposed to do if you fall asleep while we’re talking?” He grins while Iwaizumi rolls over onto his side, shifts the grip of his phone in his hand when he adjusts his position on his bed. “Not like I can shake you awake.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about that because I’m not falling asleep.” He smiles. “So, tell me about your day or something.”</p><p>So Oikawa does, rattles off a bunch of the stories he’s wanted to tell Iwaizumi. Even though they talk every day—whether it be through texts, phone calls, or video calls—they never run out of things to say. In some ways, even though they’re so physically far apart, it’s like they’ve never left each other’s sides.</p><p>Honestly, he’d been a little worried about that at first—what might become of their friendship now that they’re so far apart. Oikawa’s always told himself there’s nothing to doubt when it comes to his relationship with Iwaizumi, but sometimes a few lingering fears of what could be slip into his thoughts. That they’d drift apart over time and lose touch. The loneliness of starting a new life alone, across the world. The inevitable homesickness he’s sometimes felt—not for Miyagi itself, but for its familiarity, the people it’d been filled with. His parents and sister and Takeru. Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi’s family. Hanamaki and Matsukawa and the rest of his friends and teammates from high school.</p><p>But really, he’s happy. He’s at peace with the choices he’s made for his life, and knows the path he wants to take, knows what he wants and how to get there.</p><p>When there’s a lull of silence in their conversation, Iwaizumi says, “I’m so proud of you. You know that, right?”</p><p>Oikawa does. Not just from the times Iwaizumi’s said so, but from all his actions over the years too. How he’s always made Oikawa feel, whether it’s in a simple gesture or what feels like Iwaizumi sticking his hand out to stop Oikawa’s world from closing in on itself, like it sometimes felt it would in junior high. Sometimes in high school.</p><p>“Of course I know, Iwa-chan.” His lips curve into a smile, heart pounding in his chest in that familiar way Iwaizumi always, <em>always</em> seems to kickstart. “But I’m proud of you too, y’know. You’re out here doing great things too.”</p><p>Iwaizumi lifts one shoulder in a half shrug, dismissive almost. “Thanks, but really, it’s nothing compared to—”</p><p>“Don’t say that,” Oikawa insists. “It’s not nothing. You’re amazing. And you’re gonna help so many people.” He thinks, for a moment, to the time a while back after his game, when Iwaizumi’d brushed his fingers over Oikawa’s knee, concern in his eyes, but clear direction given to exactly what Oikawa should do for it after the match, just like one of the team’s official trainers would do. After all, helping those standing on the court get there and stay there is just as important as the player’s actions. “Just like you’ve always helped me.”</p><p>“Thanks… really.” Iwaizumi smiles at him, and Oikawa thinks that maybe, if they were sitting in the same room, the same space, Iwaizumi would reach out and touch him. One of those touches that they’ve always ignored, always brushed off, but is way more than something just best friends do. “I’m always gonna be here for you.”</p><p>Yeah, he always has been. Not just in the past when he’s forced Oikawa to cool it and rest, but when he’s tossed him a bag of ice to press to his knee, when he’d helped him tape up any injuries, when he sat there and held Oikawa’s hand as he stuck a swollen, sprained ankle into a freezing tub of ice.</p><p>But there’s more he wants too. An idea, just an inkling of a thought that grows into so much more once it’s in Oikawa’s grasp. A vision of himself, one day, maybe soon, maybe in the distant future. The blue of Argentina’s national team’s jersey, his name and his own number written across the back. Iwaizumi at his side, an athletic trainer and no longer just a student, his hand on Oikawa’s back and a smile on his lips. Maybe they can stand side by side on a much larger court than they ever had in elementary school, junior high, or high school. The idea that even if they are on different teams, no matter how far apart they are, they can still end up right at each other’s sides.</p><p>Now it’s no longer just holding onto memories, but wishing for a tangible future. A dream that <em>can </em>become a reality. That they can make happen.</p><p>“Me too. I’m always gonna be here for you too.”</p><p>Iwaizumi lets out a quick puff of breathless laughter, smile so bright, eyes slipping shut in the early afternoon as he breathes out a quiet, “<em>God</em>, I love you.”</p><p>For a moment, Oikawa freezes at Iwaizumi’s words, the confession of feelings he’s always known deep down has existed between them now spoken aloud so suddenly. He freezes, but nearly drops his phone too at the gentle surprise of the quiet<em> ‘I love you’</em> spoken with so much certainty, like these words have always been meant to exist between them.</p><p>Love. Iwaizumi said he loved him. <em>Iwaizumi loves him.</em></p><p>A wave of warmth washes over him, content and <em>right. </em>This is how it’s always been meant to be.</p><p>“Iwa-chan,” he starts, but Iwaizumi beats him to it, suddenly much more awake as he shoots up to sit in his bed now that he’s realized the words he’s let slip in a quiet, unguarded moment.</p><p>“Uh, hey, I shouldn’t have… I mean… maybe I should get going. I…”</p><p>“I love you too.” Oikawa’s own confession shoots out like the grip of his fingers wrapped around Iwaizumi’s wrist might if they were together. <em>Stay</em>. <em>Please stay. I always want you to stay. </em></p><p>“You…? You love…?”</p><p>“Don’t sound so surprised!” Oikawa laughs, a loud burst of happiness that’s freed itself from his chest. He settles into a soft smile, a familiar burning by his eyes as he witnesses Iwaizumi’s expression morph from surprised to happy, a little afraid and unsure to certain and tender.</p><p>“It’s… it’s <em>always</em> been you,” Oikawa continues, a quiet breath. “Hajime, it’s always been…”</p><p>Iwaizumi nods. “Yeah. Yeah, me too. It’s always been you.”</p><p>Oikawa’s fingers twist in the fabric of his shirt. “How long have you…?”</p><p>“Too long. Since junior high, if I’m being honest. You?”</p><p>He nods. “Same for me.” His heart’s been beating this way, full of love, for Iwaizumi for so many years at this point that Oikawa doesn’t remember a time without this feeling.</p><p>“I kind of always knew,” Iwaizumi mutters. “But I think I was afraid to admit it with… y’know, everything.”</p><p>Oikawa too. He’s spent so long certain of this feeling, suspecting that it’s returned, but too afraid to act on it. “We can make up for it next time we see each other. I’m visiting in a few months, remember?”</p><p>Iwaizumi pauses, heavy, uncertain. It’s something foreign for them until he breaks the silence with a quiet doubt voiced aloud. “Do you… Do you really want this?”</p><p>“What? Iwa-chan, come on, please tell me you’re not serious! I just said I love you. Of course I want this.” He’s always wanted this, even if it’s now a lot different than the way he’d envisioned it as a teenager when he’d first admitted to himself that he was in love with Iwaizumi. “Don’t you?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course I do. But… it might not always be easy. I…”</p><p>“Nothing we can’t handle.” That’s the thing about the two of them. They give their whole hearts, put their all into everything they do. That’s not something that changes because they’re in different countries, living on different continents. “We’ve made it this far, right?”</p><p>“Right.” The uncertain look on Iwaizumi’s face, the doubtful notion from a moment before has been wiped away now. Now it’s just the two of them, sitting here on FaceTime, smiling stupidly at each other.</p><p>There’s this insatiable urge to reach out and touch Iwaizumi, to kiss him after so many years of an aching want to do just that. But reality is, they’re separated by a phone screen, by thousands of miles, so touch is something they can’t have right now. No matter how much they want it.</p><p>“Ugh, now all I’m going to be dreaming of is our first kiss. You’re gonna sweep me off my feet in the middle of LAX when I come visit, right?” The scenario’s teasing, a joke, but he can’t help imagining it. The feeling of Iwaizumi’s arms around him after so many months without that, the press of his lips against Oikawa’s. Dreaming about it’s not unfamiliar territory. Pining for his best friend in the entire world’s done a lot of things for his heart, but it’s also given him a vivid imagination to dream up things he’d never thought he could have.</p><p>Until now. Now and going forward, they can have this. They’ll <em>always </em>have each other’s hearts in their hands, exchanged feelings, shared love.</p><p>Iwaizumi rolls his eyes. “Yeah, no. I’ll take you back home first.”</p><p>“Ohh, Iwa-chan, that’s—”</p><p>“Uh-uh. No way. Don’t say it, Oikawa!” The red of Iwaizumi’s cheeks is clear, even on his phone screen as Oikawa teases about the comment. “That’s not what I mean!”</p><p>Through Oikawa’s laughter, Iwaizumi says, “I’m not having our first kiss in the middle of a gross and crowded airport. You deserve better than that.” <em>You</em>, he says, but Oikawa knows he means <em>we</em>.</p><p>Suddenly, he feels as if someone’s knocked the breath out of him, like the teasing’s turned itself back on him and where Oikawa had Iwaizumi blushing moments ago, Iwaizumi’s now got Oikawa covering his face with his hand, cheeks impossibly warm.</p><p>“Iwa-chan…! That’s not fair!” He parts his fingers covering his face to peek at Iwaizumi through them. “You’re gonna deny me my romantic airport reunion?”</p><p>“Only you buy into that stuff.” Despite the jab, Iwaizumi smiles at him. “Look, the way I see it, we’ve got plenty of opportunities to have your romantic airport reunion.”</p><p>A casual comment shouldn’t be able to weigh so much, to imply so much more than just joking around about the cliché of reuniting in a crowded airport. It shouldn’t be able to promise a million next times, endless opportunities to do just that at some point in a whole stretch of forever.</p><p><em>Forever.</em> Maybe this is meant to be forever.</p><p>No, not maybe. He knows it is. Knows he doesn’t want anything but <em>this</em>: Iwaizumi’s quiet confession over their phone screens, warm California evening air as Iwaizumi kisses Oikawa the first time, Iwaizumi’s fingers brushing over his knee, mornings and midnights and everything in between. Maybe rings on their fingers one day, a shared space they live together in, somewhere they can sit back and say they’ve made all their dream come true and wouldn’t do any of it differently. God, he doesn’t want anything but the endless possibilities of what they can have going forward.</p><p>Maybe not the first time this evening, his eyes feel wet with tears, vision blurred as he blinks them back. But Oikawa smiles. Really, he can’t stop smiling.</p><p>“I’m holding you to it!”</p><p>Iwaizumi grins. “I know. But I’ve never broken a promise to you, have I?”</p><p>Never. Iwaizumi never has. And that’s the case with this too. The bond they’ve always shared has been unbreakable, has only grown stronger despite the general notion that it might not last a huge stretch of distance and years apart. Even now that their lifelong friendship has shifted to more, that’s something that will never change.</p><p>Neither of them do anything halfway, never put anything but their entire hearts into what they do, the promises they share, after all.</p><p>“No, and don’t expect me to either.”</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>v.</em>
</p><p>“Iwa-chan!” When Oikawa spots Iwaizumi where he said he’d be waiting at the airport, he waves, can’t help himself from running over.</p><p>Iwaizumi laughs when Oikawa drops his bag to the ground throws his arms around him. He squeezes Oikawa back just as tightly in their first hug since confessing that they love each other. “Hey. ‘bout time you got here.”</p><p>“You act like I can control if my flight gets delayed or not, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa grins as he pulls back from the embrace. “If it were up to me, I would have been here much sooner.”</p><p>“Yeah, I know.” Iwaizumi’s fingers brush against his cheek, a touch that became more common between them as they walked the thin line between friendship and more, but it completely lacks the hesitation it always used to. Now this touch just feels right, like they have everything they’ve ever wanted. “Glad to see you.”</p><p>“Me too.” Oikawa’s fingers brush against Iwaizumi’s, a quick meeting that holds a promise for more later. “It’s been too long.”  </p><p>“You ready to go?” Iwaizumi reciprocates the touch, matches it. His fingers curling around Oikawa’s. “Don’t want to waste time now that I’ve got you here.”</p><p>Oikawa nods, unable to hold back his smile. “Yep! Let’s go!”</p><p>True to his promise from months ago, Iwaizumi doesn’t kiss him in the crowded airport. But he does hold Oikawa’s hand in the back of the Uber they take to his apartment, squeezes it a few times like he can’t bring himself to let go now that they’ve initiated this contact between them.</p><p>Oikawa’s shoe bumps against Iwaizumi’s, their knees knocking against each other’s as they sit way closer than necessary, settling for what they can get until they can have more.</p><p>And they can have that—more, all of it—when they’re finally alone at Iwaizumi’s apartment. As soon as the door’s shut behind them, Oikawa drops his bag on the ground, his hands reaching for Iwaizumi now that he has him all to himself.</p><p>“I love you,” Oikawa says first, hands settling on Iwaizumi’s waist, fingers curling in his shirt. “Hajime, I love—”</p><p>Iwaizumi takes Oikawa’s face in his hands. “I love you too, Tooru.” And he kisses Oikawa for the first time, pulls him closer to eliminate any bit of space between them.</p><p>
  <strong>.</strong>
</p><p>Later that evening, they lay pressed close together in Iwaizumi’s bed, the glow of the sunset slipping into the otherwise dim room through the small window. It’s a little cramped, but not uncomfortable. No different than all the times they’d shared a bed as teenagers or when Iwaizumi had slept in Oikawa’s bed when he’d visited him.</p><p>This time’s a little different, though. They can tangle their legs together, can touch and kiss and hold each other without any fear, without any hesitation.</p><p>It’s funny, to think that they’ve known each other for their entire lives, that they’ve been ending calls and texts with ‘<em>I love you</em>,’ for months now, but this is the first real time they’ve touched each other like this. The first night they’ll officially spend as a couple.</p><p>It’s not conventional at all, and yeah, distance and different time zones are a pain to deal with. But now that they have this, that they hold it within their grasps, he doesn’t want to let it go. Ever.</p><p>Too bad they only have a week to spend together like this before Oikawa has to go back, though. If only…</p><p>“Whatcha thinking about?”</p><p>Oikawa shakes his head at Iwaizumi’s question. He just got here, and doesn’t want to admit that his thoughts are already lingering on how much he doesn’t want to leave now that they have this within their grasps. “Nothing.”</p><p>Iwaizumi’s always known him better than that, though. His hand brushes over Oikawa’s cheek. “Liar.”</p><p>“How would you know?” But Oikawa already knows the answer to that. They <em>both </em>do.</p><p>“I’ve known you since before I can even remember. I know.”</p><p>Yeah. Yeah, that’s something alone that’s amazing to think of. He hasn’t spent a day in his life where he hasn’t known Iwaizumi, a mere forty days between them. Now they’re still together, years and years later, but in a different way.</p><p>“It’s dumb,” he finally mutters. “I just… I was thinking that we only have a week.” A week, and then it’s back to texting and phone calls and FaceTime until the next time they can see each other in person again.</p><p>“Was I that bad at kissing that you think something’s gonna change after a week?” Iwaizumi jokes, catching Oikawa’s hand that he swats at his chest. “We’re gonna be fine. I hate being so far from you, but it’s not gonna be forever and we’ll get through it.”</p><p>“I know.” At least Iwaizumi’s momentary doubt of asking Oikawa if he really wanted this on that call months ago has dissipated and he sounds so certain, speaks with so much conviction now. Oikawa doesn’t doubt them either, doesn’t doubt that this is how they’re meant to be. But that’s the thing about distance. It’s something that can create doubts, can make him feel insecure with something, <em>someone </em>he’s never felt that way with before. “I know we’ll be fine. I was just wishing—” That they had more time to spend together. That there wasn’t so much distance between them. That—</p><p>“Me too. But one day we’re gonna have all the time in the world, okay?” Iwaizumi smiles at him, presses a kiss to Oikawa’s knuckles, hands he knows just as well as his own. “You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”</p><p>Oikawa laughs, remembering when they’d made a similar declaration. Back when they’d first gone in different directions, but promised never to drift apart. “Threat or promise?”</p><p>“Promise,” Iwaizumi says, quiet but certain. In fact, he’s never sounded more certain of anything. “I promise, Tooru.”</p><p>“Promise,” Oikawa repeats, smile breaking onto his face as he leans in to kiss Iwaizumi again. He’s lost count of how many times they’ve kissed in the few hours since they’ve reunited, but at this rate, they’ve got years to make up for and they’ll have millions of opportunities in the future to do that too, no matter how far apart they live at this point in time. “I promise too, Hajime.”</p><p>
  <strong>.</strong>
</p><p>A week later, shortly after they’ve said goodbye and Oikawa boards his flight back, his phone lights up with a notification. A quick and simple message—<em>Love you &lt;3 Don’t you forget it.</em></p><p>Even a heart emoji, huh? Maybe his influence is rubbing off on Iwaizumi after all.</p><p>He texts back, quick—<em>I’ll never forget it. Love you too Iwa-chan &lt;3&lt;3&lt;3 </em></p><p>Oikawa smiles at the phone screen for a moment longer, reading and responding to Iwaizumi’s request to call when his flight lands, before he flips the device into airplane mode when told to.</p><p>There’s a clear view of the sunset if he looks out the plane’s window, and it makes him think of Iwaizumi’s smile and warm, familiar hands and the way he’s kissed Oikawa all week, a sensation that’s felt like coming home.</p><p>And maybe that’s the best part. That no matter how far or how long they spend apart, whenever or wherever they come back together, even if it’s only briefly, that’s what it’ll feel like—coming home.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>